Spring-Heeled Jack (21 page)

McCloud then throttled Atticus with
his left hand, making it nearly impossible for him to breath. He
then let loose punch after punch to the boy’s face, leaving it
bloodied and horribly bruised. Atticus felt his nose break and his
left eye almost completely swell shut. Despite being in complete
darkness, he saw flashes after every blow.

When McCloud was finally
done pulverizing him, he dragged Atticus’ near unconscious body to
the table at the center of the room, pinning him to it. Atticus
could barely see anything, but he saw the fire burning in McCloud’s
eyes and he knew that McCloud could see the terror and hopelessness
in his own. The detective cocked back his right arm and the
Jack of Clubs
began to
glow bright green.

McCloud sneered, blood trickling down
his face. “You will beg for death!”

Just as he was about to strike, a
laugh filled the room. Atticus thought he was going crazy, but he
recognized the maniacal cackle of the Gray Man from his dream. But
apparently, McCloud could hear the laugh as well, and it looked
like it scared him far more than it did Atticus.

The detective’s hands began to
tremble; his eyes lost their rage fueled flame.
“M-Master?”

As the laugh subsided,
Atticus’
Queen of Spades
began to glow a bright and violent blue. Atticus
wasn’t sure what was going on or why it was acting up on him again,
but whatever the reason, it saved his life.

“
Y-You’re a
Gambler
,” McCloud
stammered.

Atticus didn’t know what he meant, but
before McCloud could regain his senses, a dark body tackled into
him and brought the assassin toppling to the ground. Atticus rolled
off the table, gasping for air. He couldn’t believe he was still
alive. His face was bloody and his whole body ached, but that
didn’t matter.

Then, another shadow appeared in front
of him; a girl wearing a pink dress: Camila.

“
A-Atticus,” she said. She
looked on the verge of tears.

He didn’t know what to say to her. He
wanted to say he was alright, but that was obviously a lie. He
wanted to reassure her that, yes, it was him, but his mind didn’t
have time for jokes.

“
H-How’d you two find me,”
he asked.

“
We’ll share stories later,”
Brock shouted. He weaseled his way out of McCloud’s grasp and ran
up to help Camila bring Atticus to his feet. Together, the three
fled the room, but Atticus could hear McCloud let out another wail
of anger. A wave of adrenaline rushed through him, and despite all
of his injuries, he was able to pull his own wait in the escape,
not having to rely on Camila and Brock carrying him.

Camila lead the way, thanks to her
incredible memory. She was able to guide them perfectly through the
basement. They didn’t make any attempts to try and shake McCloud;
they simply made a mad dash to the exit. Every now and again,
Atticus would peak over his shoulder and make sure McCloud wasn’t
on their tail, but in doing so, he accidentally ran past his
friends and bumped head first into a strange man standing within
the darkness.

At first, Atticus feared that it was
McCloud who’d somehow gotten in front of them, but thankfully that
was not the case. Instead, standing before them was a man with jet
black hair wearing a long black and white leather trench coat,
black gloves, and a pair of dark sunglasses. Despite getting bumped
into, the man didn’t seem to notice the three kids, almost as if he
was specifically waiting for Detective McCloud.

“
W-Who are you,” Atticus
asked.

The man looked down at Atticus and
smiled, but before he could say anything, McCloud arrived and froze
in terror.

“
I-It can’t be,” McCloud
said. “You’re dead! I killed you!”

“
Long time, McCloud,” the
man said. The card shark pushed past the three, putting himself
between them and the detective. “Perhaps Zebulon needs a new
assassin.”

McCloud gave a sly smile and
the
Jack of Clubs
began to glow. “Well, alive or dead, it doesn’t matter. It
looks like I’ll just have to bury you personally this
time.”

His body began to disappear just like
before, and Camila let out a loud gasp.

Brock looked at Atticus and said,
“H-He has a mark just like you!”

“
Yeah, I’m aware,” he
said.

Camila looked at the two. “J-Just like
you?”

“
Be quiet,” the card shark
shouted. His gaze was unwavering. “McCloud is just a one trick
pony. Once you know his trick, he isn’t so scary.”

The card shark took a step back and
made a quick jab forward. To Atticus and the others, it looked like
a shot in the dark, but a thud was heard along with a squeal of
pain from McCloud. He began to reappear, blood streaming down his
nose as he backed away.

Then, the card shark reached into his
pocket and pulled out what looked to be a metallic playing card. “I
wonder McCloud,” he said, “are you a fan of card
tricks?”

With a flick of his wrist, the man
shot the card straight at McCloud. With perfect precision, the card
spun through the air and slashed the detective’s left eye. McCloud
let out a blood curdling scream and staggered back, glaring
viciously glaring at the card shark with his one good eye. His
hands were plastered to his injury.

The card shark snapped his fingers and
the bloodied card behind McCloud began to wobble before soaring
through the air back into the card shark’s hand.

“
I’ll take that as a no.”
The card shark flicked his wrist again and fanned out four new
cards behind the first. “I’ve been practicing for this very moment,
McCloud. Do you like it?”

“
You’re just lucky,” McCloud
growled. Blood continued to drip down his face as he backed into
the darkness. “Next time, I’ll kill you and make sure you stay
dead.” The
Jack of Clubs
shined brightly on his hand as he disappeared into
the darkness. Though he was invisible, the blood dripping from his
eye left a feint trail through the hall.

The three students stood in awe of the
strange man who’d just saved them from the two-faced
assailant.

The card shark slipped the cards into
his pocket and turned to face the three. He smiled and asked, “Are
you kids alright?”

“
I guess,” Atticus said. He
looked to his friends who looked just as confused as he
was.

“
Who are you,” Camila
asked.

The man adjusted his sunglasses. He
then reached into his coat and pulled out a necklace with a pendant
that revealed two overlapping gears.

“
Mekanile,” Atticus
said.

“
That’s correct. I am the
captain of The Mekanile,” the man said. “My name is
Ace.”

“
W-What do you mean
‘Captain’ of the Mekanile,” Atticus asked.

Ace smirked and slid the necklace back
into his coat. “The Mekanile, Atticus,” he said, “is a
ship.”

“
Hold on, what’s going on,”
Camila shouted. “What’s with all the cards? Why did McCloud want to
kill Atticus? And what’s with the mark on his hand?” She turned to
Atticus and said, “Why did Brock say ‘Just like you?’”

Ace held up his hand and said, “Hush
now, young lady. Too many questions can fluster someone.” He turned
to Atticus “Why don’t you answer her question first.”

Atticus didn’t feel
comfortable showing Camila his
Queen of
Spades
, but he figured that she deserved to
know. He held out his hand and the mark appeared, glowing a bright
blue.

Camila was in shock. She held her own
hands to her chest and she looked like she looked like she’d just
seen a ghost.

Brock chimed in and said,
“Hey Atticus, do you think your
Queen
can heal your face a
bit?”

Atticus smiled. “It’s worth a
shot.”

He placed his hand to his
nose and the
Queen of Spades
began glowing. At first, he didn’t feel anything,
but then Atticus felt a sensation like none he’d ever imagined. The
cartilage in his nose began to pop and crackle back into place, his
eye swelling began to dwindle down, and the color began to return
to his face. But, it’d exhausted him almost as much as restoring
the automaton did.

Atticus nearly collapsed, but Ace
caught him. “Careful there, son. Using your power too much without
understanding it can really take it out of ya.”

Atticus looked up and suddenly he
realized that he still knew nothing about the man and shook himself
out of his grip. “Enough beating around the bush,” he shouted.
“What is this mark, and why do I have it?”

“
That, kid,” Ace said, “is
a
Gambler’s Crest
:
a magical mark that grants its user phenomenal power depending on
the face it represents.”

“
Magic?” Atticus normally
didn’t believe in the supernatural, but looking down at his
Queen of Spades
, knowing
that it could magically repair broken objects, as well as thinking
about McCloud’s
Jack of Clubs
turning him invisible, magic didn’t seem quite so
farfetched.

“
Yeah, magic,” Brock said.
“That makes sense. Now, why don’t you explain to us why McCloud
wanted to Kill Atticus.”

“
That is not something we
should discuss here,” Ace said. “Besides, Atticus can explain it to
you just as well as I could.”

“
What? No, you have to
answer my questions,” Atticus ordered. “If you’re really with
Mekanile-”

“
Don’t worry, Atticus,” the
man said. “We will meet again. Of that, I know for certain. But for
now, I need you three to get out of here.” And then, with the snap
of his fingers, a flash of light blinded the three. Then, when they
came too, the man was gone and they were huddled together within
the custodial closet.

The three arrived back at the
cafeteria just as the chaos was beginning to disperse. Police
officers and paramedics had arrived on the scene, helping those who
were injured as well as questioning those in good condition.
Atticus half expected to see Detective McCloud on the
scene.

A group of officers asked the three to
take a seat and wait for permission to leave, and they figured it
would be best not to argue. None of them said anything for a long
while. They just waited in silence for the storm to blow
over.

Despite getting the tar beaten out of
him, Atticus saw that Camila looked the worst of the bunch. She
kept looking at Atticus’ hands and then back at her own. His mark
had long vanished, but she kept staring.

“
Hey, are you gonna be
okay,” Atticus asked.

“
Yeah, I’ll be fine,” she
said weakly.

He reached out and held her hand in
his. He didn’t know why he did it, but it felt like the right thing
to do. Hers was so much colder than his own.

“
I need you to promise me
that you won’t tell anyone about it, okay?”

She nodded, blood rushing to her
cheeks. “Of course.”

“
Thanks,” he said. “Y’know,
I still owe you a movie.”

Camila laughed and gave him a smile.
“That sounds wonderful.”

A week passed since the charity event,
and for the most part, everything went back to normal. Classes went
on as scheduled and students went on with their normal lives.
Atticus had explained to Brock and Camila what happened with
McCloud and how Zebulon wanted his locket. He tried to explain
everything as best he could, but he still didn’t have all the
information, so there were plenty of questions they all
shared.

Professor Varnum had long since
disappeared from the school. According to police reports, the
professor confessed to being Mike Nelson’s killer and then staging
the whole event in a desperate attempt to further his career. He
refused to give the names of any accomplices. An interview with the
Las Vegas police said that Detective McCloud saw the professor
fleeing from the scene during the charity event and quickly
apprehended him. Unfortunately, in the scrap, the detective
suffered a terrible injury to his eye.

The paper also mentioned Atticus by
name. Apparently, McCloud had cited him as a critical factor in
discovering Varnum’s identity. “Without Whaelord,” McCloud was
quoted, “the murder would’ve, without a doubt, gone
unsolved.”

A rather back handed comment, Atticus
thought. The murder wasn’t solved. McCloud was the real killer, and
he got to walk away scot-free; Varnum simply took his place. But
all that being said, Atticus had never been more popular at school.
His peers praised him as a real detective. Even popular students
like Justin Drasken heralded him as a hero. No matter where he went
on campus, students would always stop and talk to him like he was
some sort of school celebrity.

Everybody thought everything was
wonderful, except for Atticus. He’d solved the mystery, but he
couldn’t expose the truth. The only who actually knew the truth
were he, Brock, and Camila and none of them had the authority to
claim McCloud was the real killer.